Talk:quick

quick as an adverb
I have a dictionary here that claims quick can also be used as an adverb. It seemed odd to me as well.Polyglot 22:00, 2 Dec 2003 (UTC)


 * Hmmm... m-w.com also says it can be an adverb, synonymous with "quickly". But I've always thought that was nonstandard usage.  I'll see what else I can dig up.  I'll have access to the OED over Xmas, so maybe that'll have examples. -- Ortonmc 22:07, 2 Dec 2003 (UTC)


 * I have access to the OED. It distinguishes these usages of "quick" as an adverb.  (1) As a simple equivalent to "quickly".  It says that this is "now usually avoided in educated speech and writing", though standard in some colloquial constructions (such as "get rich quick").  (2) Phrases such as "quick as lightning" or "quick as a wink" used as adverbs.  (3) Imperative - "quick!", "be quick!", "get your clothes on, quick!" (Some of these usages can be interpreted as adjectival.)  (4) In compounds: "quick-firing", "quick-talking", etc (I have picked out the two examples that are most familiar from a much longer list of compounds).  Amatlexico 2 Dec 2003 22:28 UTC

"the quick and the dead"
I substituted with James Thomson's citation this too scarcy expression of four words as it is a mere concatenation of the two antonyms and is far from illustrating the usage. The uſer hight Bogorm converſation 18:12, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

quick (adverb): fast
Microsoft® Encarta® 2009

Fast: in a speedy manner (informal) Come quick!

But fastly: (nonstandard) quickly. --Backinstadiums (talk) 16:15, 7 August 2019 (UTC)

Sequence of senses
Is there a rule as to the sequence of senses?

Currently for the English noun it's
 * 1) Raw or sensitive flesh, especially that underneath finger and toe nails.
 * 2) Plants used in making a quickset hedge.
 * 3) The life; the mortal point; a vital part; a part susceptible to serious injury or keen feeling.
 * 4) Quitchgrass.
 * 5) A fast bowler.

I would sooner group the similar senses.

The two relevant pieces of guidance I have identified state:
 * "it is important that the most common senses of a term be placed first"; and
 * "For complex entries, the use of subsenses is encouraged". (I'm not sure how subsenses are supposed to be formatted — it's not specified in the Style Guide!)

Thus, arguably, we might have something like:
 * 1 A part susceptible to serious injury or keen feeling.
 * (a) The life; the mortal point; a vital part.
 * (b) Raw or sensitive flesh, especially that underneath finger and toe nails.
 * 2 A fast bowler.
 * 3 (rare/dated???) Plants used in making a quickset hedge.
 * 4 (rare/dated???) Quitchgrass.

To me the last two items in the modified sequence seem rather obscure usages.

—DIV (1.145.54.191 12:11, 28 March 2023 (UTC))